Dolphins to leave Steinhart after two decades

April 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1995:

SAN FRANCISCO––Amphrite and Thetis are

moving. Kept in an admittedly undersized tank at the

Steinhart Aquarium since 1975 and 1978, respectively, the

two female Pacific whitesided dolphins will join others of

their kind at a state-of-the-art oceanarium elsewhere “within

three to nine months,” new Steinhart director Robert Jenkins

told ANIMAL PEOPLE in early March. “It’s not a question

of if, or when,” Jenkins added. “It’s just a matter of com-

pleting the logistics.”

One big unknown is the length of time it will take to

re-sling-train the dolphins. “They’ve been sling-trained

before, and they’ll remember,” Jenkins said. “But they may

need practice before they’re ready to leave.”

Tales from the cryptozoologists

April 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1995:

Freelance writer Peter Zahler and math teacher Chantal Dietemann, of

Watertown, New York, recently rediscovered the woolly flying squirrel in the Sai Valley of

northern Pakistan. Presumed extinct, the two-foot-long squirrel, with a two-foot tail, was last

seen in 1924. Although Zhaler and Dietemann actually recovered partial specimens of the

squirrel from around the nests of eagle owls last summer, they delayed the announcement until

March, to obtain scientific confirmation of their findings.

Australian zoology student Elizabeth Sinclair recently captured a pair of Gilbert’s

rabbit kangaroos in a live trap set for short-tailed kangaroos, according to the March edition of

Geo magazine. Considered extinct for more than a century, Gilbert’s rabbit kangaroos were last

seen alive in 1869. A radio transmitter was strapped to the male, who was then released. The

female, who had young in her pouch, remains in captivity.

ESA ON HOLD UNTIL AMENDED

April 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1995:

WASHINGTON D.C.––Both the House

and Senate on March 16 approved in principle a

proposal to impose a moratorium on adding species

to the federal endangered species list, pending

amendment of the Endangered Species Act. The

measure would also prohibit new critical habitat

designations for species already declared endan-

gered. A Senate motion to reject the moratorium

failed, 60-38.

Details of the moratorium will have to be

worked out in conference committee and ratified by

both houses before going to President Bill Clinton

for either his signature or veto. Allowing the mora-

torium to stand could alienate Clinton’s remaining

supporters, while vetoing it would be seen as disre-

gard for property rights––the central theme of the

Republican “Contract with America.”

Low AMPs

April 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1995:

Americans for Medical Progress, an

anti-animal rights group funded by U.S. Surgical,

has grudgingly apologized for a February 24

claim that former Olympic diver Greg Louganis

betrays fellow AIDS patients by doing ads for a

group called PAWS, which AMP misidentified

as the Progressive Animal Welfare Society. That

PAWS opposes animal use in biomedical

research. “It has come to AMP’s attention,” a

February 28 retraction said, “that the group for

which Mr. Louganis is a spokesperson is Pets Are

Wonderful Support,” which assists pet owners

with AIDS in the Philadelphia area.

“A common tactic used by animal

rights groups to deceive the public,” the AMP

statement continued, “is to adopt names or

acronyms of respectable groups.” AMP may owe

all concerned another apology: founded in 1967,

the Progressive Animal Welfare Society is the

older group by 25 years.

AGRICULTURE, DIET, & HEALTH

April 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1995:

Polls of children and teens done by

the National Live Stock & Meat Board’s

“Youth Initiative Task Force” found in 1992

and 1993 that 50% were concerned about the

fat and cholesterol in beef, 37% were con-

cerned about the fat and cholesterol in pork,

and 16% were concerned about the fat and

cholesterol in chicken––but only 4% saw cru-

elty in beef production, 3% saw cruelty in

pork production, and 2% saw cruelty in poul-

try production. Just 1% saw ecological harm

in eating beef; none saw ecological harm in

eating pork and poultry. A follow-up survey

is scheduled for this year.

Tiger beat

April 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1995:

Tigers could decline past the point of viability in the wild within 10 years and be extinct in the wild

with 20 years, International Union for the Conservation of Nature cat specialist group chair Peter Jackson warned

on March 12, while lauding a March 2 agreement between China and India to protect tigers along their disputed

frontier, and a similar deal reached on March 6 among Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, which share circa 500

wild tigers. China reportedly has about 80 wild tigers left, divided among three different species.

Fifty-seven Siberian tigers have been born since 1986 at the Hengdaozi Breeding Centre in northeast-

ern Heilongjiang province, China, of whom 53 have survived, the Xinhua news agency reported on February 21.

Horses

April 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1995:

Feuds among Los Angeles-area

horse rescuers exploded into the media with a

bankruptcy petition filed on January 18 by the

Equus horse sanctuary, of Newhall,

California. Begun in 1992 by Sandra Waldrop

and Linda Moss, Equus adopts out horses

bought from killer-buyers. Friction developed

early, as volunteer Sandy Venables of

Chatsworth quit to form her own rescue group,

and caught fire after Equus expanded to a for-

mer mule ranch last June, then couldn’t make

the $2,500-a-month rent. In November,

Equus got an eviction notice––and was

accused of neglecting from 100 to 170 horses

by Barbara Goodwin Cross of the L.I.F.E.

Foundation, which places wild horses

obtained from the Bureau of Land

WORLD WILDLIFE REPORT

April 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1995:

Asia

About 30,000 orangutans remain in Borneo, say Indonesian offi-

cials, but only about 300 survive in East Kalimantan province, due to rainfor-

est logging and poaching––plus 165 orangs kept at a rehabilitation centre in

Samboja, near the Sungai Wein jungle preserve. Rescued from smugglers,

most suffer from hepatitis and/or tuberculosis contracted in captivity.

Thai authorities circa January 20 confiscated 21 endangered

Burmese bear cubs from a smuggler who boasted of having already shipped 70

cubs to South Korean restaurants this year alone––and got off with an on-the-

spot fine. The cubs were taken to a captive breeding center, where three died

within a day.

Animal health

April 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1995:

Rabies roundup

A four-year-old girl from Centralia, Washington, on

March 16 became the first person to die of rabies in that state since

1939. Relatives found and killed a bat in her bedroom in February, but

did not report the incident to anyone until after she was hospitalized with

depression, constant drooling, and seizures. She lapsed into a terminal

coma on March 9.

Texas during the second week in February began airdrop-

ping 850,000 dog biscuits laden with the new oral rabies vaccine

over an area the size of Maryland, Delaware, and Rhode Island

combined, to stop an outbreak of canine rabies in coyotes and foxes

before it spreads from the southern end of the state to San Antonio. The

$1.9 million project is the biggest test of the oral vaccine on wildlife yet.

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